Novak Djokovic admitted it was ‘frustrating’ that his elbow did not heal properly during a six-month absence from tennis and plans to ‘reassess’ his options as he considers more time away from the sport.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion was beaten by world No. 58 Hyeon Chung in a battling straight sets defeat, with the South Korean winning 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 7-6 (7-3) in nearly three-and-a-half hours.

Djokovic required treatment on his elbow – which had forced him away from the sport since retiring from his Wimbledon quarter-final against Tomas Berdych – during the match and he confessed that it didn’t ‘heal properly’.

‘First of all, I have to say I’m very grateful I had the chance to play,’ he said after the loss.

‘I didn’t know if I’m going to play or not. So I played four matches here. It was a good tournament, of course. I mean, it’s disappointing to go out in the fourth round. The circumstances are such. I have to accept it. That’s the reality.

‘It’s frustrating, of course, when you have that much time and you don’t heal properly. But it is what it is. There is some kind of a reason behind all of this.

‘I’m just trying my best obviously because I love this sport. I enjoy training. I enjoy getting myself better, hoping that I can get better, perform and compete.

Chung came out on top (Picture: Getty)

‘Today was one of those days where, unfortunately, it was too much to deal with.’

When asked if he will need another break from tennis, he added: ‘I really don’t know. Now I don’t know.

‘I have to reassess everything with my team, medical team, coaches and everybody, scan it, see what the situation is like.

‘Last couple weeks I played a lot of tennis. Let’s see what’s happening inside.

Djokovic potentially faces another absence (Picture: Getty)

‘I mean, yeah. I was hoping I can go through it. As I was mentioning before, as a professional athlete, you have to deal with pain at a certain level, a certain degree. You kind of get used that.

‘I felt the level of pain was, you know, not that high that I need to stop the match, even though it was obviously compromising my serve. That, of course, is a big shot, especially against Chung, who returns well, gets a lot of balls back.

Chung made life tough (Picture: /Getty)

‘I wish I could have a little bit had more free points on the first serve, but I didn’t. That’s life. I have to move on.

‘But, yeah, I don’t want to talk about my injury tonight because then I’m taking away Chung’s victory, the credit that he deserves.’